Because of Love
by RubyLune
Summary: What if he had died?... Katara reminices on how mcuh she cares for Aang... A Kataang story. So let's just say for all intensive purposes that Aang is even more mature for his age than in the show, and that he can take control... *sigh* romantic lead...


YAY!!! Second shot at a story! This one's not sad like my first story cause I've been reading too much tragedy and I don't think I can stand anymore!!!

Yeah, so Aang's more mature, Katara's move likely to break down, happening at some point in the Awakening. Go the Kataanginess.

Katara is thinking about Ba Sing Se and Aang's almost-death, she gets quite...upset...and Aang comes to the rescue!!! *Trumpet*_ Knight on a white bison rides up to sweep swooning damsel in a blue dress to safety!!!_

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_What if he had died? That day in Ba Sing Se... that day Azula shot him... that day she felt as if she had lost it all... _

Katara sat in her room on the Fire Nation ship, absentmindedly bending a bowl of water into patterns in front of her. Swirls, waves, a jagged bolt of lightning...

The memories hit her again, the way the entire cave had lit up, the way the sound like thunder echoed throughout her head, the way his back had curved elegantly... Everyone always said that when disasters happen, everything seems to go slow motion. It hadn't. It felt like time had gone into some weird warp; the world had stood still, and she and Aang had been the only two moving. The giant wave of cool blue rising up beneath her and propelling her forwards to his falling body, and as soon as they had touched, everything sped up again, and it was if she was seeing it through a fine haze of mist as the tears streamed down her face. One small salty drop had fallen on Aang's cheek, making it look as though he was crying himself. And his body was ice cold.

Katara gasped. The water she had been bending fell back into its bowl, splashing over the edges and soaking part of her mattress. She stood shakily; her legs felt like water and her head was spinning, she couldn't focus, everything was blurred and seemed out of reach. Her hand connected with the metal handle of the door and she pushed it open, stumbling out and along the corridor, one hand pressed to the wall to keep herself steady. She half fell up the stairs, the motion carrying her into the railing, pressing against her just below her ribcage. All of her breath was knocked from her as she grasped the harsh metal. Staring down, the black water was lined with silver from the moon and star light.

_If he had died... if he had never woken in her arms on Appa... if her tears had simply continued to run down her face, soaking the tattered garments of the boy she held in her arms... No gasp, no groan, no slight movement... no heartbeat... no sign to tell her to hope... She would be holding a corpse..._

Her knees gave way and Katara slid down to the ground, still leaning against the railing, the cold metal pressing against her head. She slid sideways as the ship hit a large wave, curled in on herself on the floor. The ship rocked again and she was pushed across the deck further, grazing her cheek.

_What was happening? What was happening to her? She was failing, giving up and crumbling... allowing herself to fall into despair... and without reason... because he had opened his soft grey eyes to her once more..._

"Katara?" Aang gently slid his arms further around her body and lifted her into his lap, his muscles straining from lack of use the past few weeks. "Katara? Can you hear me?"

He looked down at her, brow furrowed in concern. Her eyes were tightly shut and there were obvious tear-trails running down her face. Aang frowned deeper and moved one hand to turn her face towards him more. He took in a breath. There was a deep graze across her cheek, small lines of red across her skin.

Aang swallowed with difficulty. "Katara?" he called a little louder, pulling her tighter against his body. "Katara, please open your eyes, you're... you're scaring me..."

Aang watched as her eyes very slightly opened, fluttering and taking in his figure before closing again. Fresh tears welled up.

"I'm sorry, Aang..." she mumbled softly, her lips barely moving. "I didn't mean to scare you... I don't want you to worry about me..."

Aang let his shoulders drop, relax, as he helped Katara to sit up more, leaning against his chest. "**I** want to worry about you..."

Katara sighed and her turned her face into his chest more, one hand slowly creeping up and grasping at his Fire Nation robe. Aang hugged her against him, then carefully slid his hands underneath her and began to stand.

Katara's eyes opened again and she frowned worriedly. "No, Aang... don't strain yourself... I'm fine..."

"And I'm a hog-monkey's uncle." Aang sucked in a breath and lifted Katara higher against himself, holding her tighter to stop her from shifting as she tried to get out of his arms. "Katara, stop moving and just relax."

Katara froze, then relaxed, and Aang walked over to the stairs. The door to her room was still open, so he walked her in and set her down gently on the bed before sitting down beside her.

"The mattress is cold," Aang frowned again.

"I was bending and spilled some of the water..." Katara whispered, closing her eyes. "It's dry, it'll be fine..."

Aang sighed. "You don't have a blanket and you'll catch a cold unless you have a warmer bed,"

Katara's lips mumbled. "Don't wanna move..."

Aang watched her for a moment, then lay down beside her. Katara's eyes flew open as he threw an arm over her torso and pulled her close.

"Aang?" she breathed.

"Shh..." his voice came softly back. "Go to sleep... I'll be your blanket."

Katara felt the heat rise in her cheeks at his words and closed her eyes. Her breath came in a short gasp as Aang's hand tightened around her and slid down her waist slightly. Her eyes opened again and she stared at the ceiling, trying to calm down. After a few minutes she whispered.  
"I can't sleep."

She turned her head to see Aang's eyes open and watching her. She fought down another blush. Then, without warning, he pulled her over so that she was lying half on top of him. Katara quickly grabbed his shoulders and this time couldn't stop her face from growing hot as Aang's arms held her tightly around her waist.

Aang studied her for a moment. "Tell me one thing," he spoke softly. "Just one thing... because I need to know..."

Katara just stared down at him, trying to ignore his hands and how tightly she was pressed against his body.

Aang's grey eyes pierced her own blue ones. "I love you." he whispered.

Katara's eyes widened further as she heard the truth and the promise behind his words. "I love you too." she breathed.

Briefly, Katara saw the glow in Aang's eyes as she spoke her own truth to him, before one of his hand's was holding the back of her head and his lips had pressed themselves to hers. Katara responded automatically, because she had for so long dwelt on her dreams, and finally, her dreams were coming true. Aang's tongue softly ran across her lips and she let them part with a shiver. Her hands had found their way into Aang's soft black hair, and he was running one of his hands gently up and down her spine, never going beyond her waist, but intimately enough to cause Katara's heart rate to speed up monumentally. Aang's mouth was moving softly against hers, his tongue exploring her taste and creating sparks within her. Gradually, gently, Aang slowed and left one single lingering kiss upon her lips before pulling back. Katara's eyes opened and met his as she breathed heavily, his taste still on her lips. Aang brought his free hand from the back of her head around to brush a stray strand of hair from her face.

"Thank you." he whispered, before pulling Katara down to meet their lips again.

_Because he had opened his eyes to her... and helped her open her eyes to him..._

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Hee-hee! "I'll be your blanket" = Best pickup line ever!

Review please! Tell me what's good, what's bad, which part you think the world could do with some more of!

(Oh, and any ideas for stories, love to hear them! Cause I need more inspiration! Come on people! Give me some oneshots here! :D )


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